White House to Democrats: 'Punch back twice as hard'
"Top White House aides gave Senate Democrats a recess battle plan on Thursday, arming the lawmakers with tips for avoiding disastrous town hall meetings while showing them polling on popular aspects of the reform.
“If you get hit, we will punch back twice as hard,” Messina said, according to an official who attended the meeting."
I don't pretend to know what is in another man's heart. I don't know if there have been Republican "plants" in any of the protests at town hall meetings. I wasn't there. I do know that in my sphere of acquaintance, the anger, fear and frustration are very real.
People I know who generally don't pay a whit of attention to politics are pissed at their Beltway representatives. It isn't about health care, though that appears to be the flash point. It also isn't about partisan politics. They are as pissed at Republicans as they are at Democrats. It's about elected representatives who won't listen.
People are frightened for their future and they want their opinions to be heard. Is that too much to ask? They are tired of thousand-page legislation being passed that no one in either house has read. They are tired of having their phone calls, emails and letters ignored.
"Hitting back twice as hard," is exactly the wrong thing to do. Instead, you ought to try a bit of humility and empathy. The town hall eruptions may or may not be manufactured. The groundswell of anger and frustration are very real. Things are going to get very ugly if you people don't start doing less punching and more listening.